Diamond Creek Falls

Located west of Willamette Pass, just off of Highway 58. The falls are accessed from the Salt Creek Falls day use area, located 21 miles east of Oakridge, or 5 miles west of Willamette Pass. The parking lot is well signed from the main road, and east bounders will undoubtedly see Salt Creek Falls through the trees before reaching the turnoff. Park at the far end of the loop, follow the Diamond Creek Falls trail across Salt Creek and bear right at the first junction. The trail follows the rim of Salt Creek Canyon, passing the lower falls of Diamond Creek after 2/3 of a mile. At 1-¼ miles, a spur trail breaks off to the right and descends to the base of Diamond Creek Falls in another ¼ mile. Continuing up the main trail for another 500 feet will bring you to a view from the top of the falls. There is actually a road passing within 500 feet of the brink of the falls, but you'll need good clearance to drive all the way to this point (take the gravel road from the Salt Creek Falls parking area, turn right at the second junction and drive for about 3 ½ miles to Diamond Creek).Diamond Creek harbors a pair of large waterfalls, and fortunately at least one is easily accessed. Here, Diamond Creek runs across a steep cliff where the creek widens to a good 75 feet as it veils 120 feet down jagged, grooved basalt formations. Because of the channeled, roughly domed shape of the falls, foreshortening and perspective perception changes dramatically between the different viewpoints. From the bottom of the falls, the width appears much more significant than the height of the falls, but when viewing the falls from above, the height becomes quite apparent. Most sources cite this waterfall as standing about 90 feet tall, but topographic maps show a well-defined drop of about 120 feet, and I am much more inclined to believe that figure until a definitive number can be reached.The origin of the name of Diamond Creek is unknown, but there are two possibilities. Nearby Diamond Peak was named for John Diamond of Coburg, who was among a party opening a road along the Middle Fork Willamette River for immigration. Either Diamond Creek was given the same name, or the creek was named after Diamond Peak (either way, it was named for the same person).